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October 31, 2019

Engl 102 Research Paper

Big and Beautiful: The Effects of Trump’s Wall on the United States-Mexico Border

Donald Trump is the United States’ forty-fifth president. In his 2016 election campaign,

Trump announced that he would build a border wall, and make Mexico pay for it. Since his

election as president, there have been numerous talks of this wall and border control, but yet has

the infamous wall been constructed. A wall the proposed magnitude of Trump’s comes with

inevitable consequences, and begs the question if it’s worth it to seek out alternative methods of

border control. Quoting Patrick Leary, “is it the militarism and nationalism of Clinton’s wall, or

just the extravagant tastelessness of Trump’s [that we oppose]?” However, it’s not just a matter

of aesthetics. Trump’s border wall will have long-lasting negative environmental and

socioeconomical impacts on both the United States of America and Mexico.

While it is technically legal to take private land for federal use, there are a number of

court proceedings that must happen first. If the landowner decides not to sell his land, the

government can simply condemn it, at which point it becomes the property of the state, based on

“the eminent domain powers of the federal government,” (Brandys). The issue with this is, with

the amount of private borderland the government would need to take over, relations on the

American side of the wall would quickly sour. Trump’s approval would plummet, and while

what he wants to do is legal (on a technicality), it isn’t the best choice. Especially in

consideration that, “most Americans oppose the funding of the Mexican border wall,” (Childs).

Not only do Americans oppose its funding, they would likely oppose seizure of their own land

for which to base its construction.

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The United States-Mexico borderlands home to many people. Among them, the Tohono

O’odham people reside in the land between the two nations, and a wall through this area would,

“hurt ancient rituals as well as divide the ancestral territories of the original people of the

borderlands,” (Lara-Valencia). A wall of Trump’s proposed magnitude would split these

culturally rich areas in half, effectively creating a rift in traditional lands. That would also

increase tensions in the area, more than that which already exists, as the land was first split

between Mexico and Arizona after the Gadsden Purchase of 1854. The wall would further divide

the United States and America, both figuratively and literally, and give rise to increased tensions

between the two nations.

The agreed upon purpose of the reinforced border wall is to increase national security

against illegal immigrants. This border wall would prevent neither illegal immigration nor drug

trafficking to the U.S. based on “40% of illegal immigrants” having overstayed their visas but

entered legally. The DEA has reported that a majority of drugs brought into the U.S. from the

southern border were brought via entry ports by vehicles, not smuggled across the border by

those who do cross illegally (Poston). This means that a large number of illegal immigrants are

not illegal immigrants at all by definition, but legal immigrants that have simply overstayed their

visas. In addition, a majority of the narcotics brought into the United States from Mexico did not

enter with actual illegal immigrants, but through legal entry ports and were overlooked at

checkpoints. Additionally, historically children have been used as a means to an end to secure

political and cultural goals, and modern times are no different. “Children’s Lives as History’s

Pawns,” by author Dan Dervin summarizes this phenomenon well, relating it to the plight of

many immigrant children in America today, based on the recent captivity of children at the
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border in the effort of “their best interests.” The article concludes that they’re being used, “as

bargaining chips for passing President Trump’s pricey Wall,” (Dervin).

Trump’s wall would also have major ecological consequences. For example, the current

planned route of the wall goes directly through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Reserve. Many

species that make this area their homes are not found anywhere else in the United States, and a

wall through the reserve would disrupt the species that live, hunt, and migrate through the area

(Harriss). Robert Harriss acknowledges that the existing wall already puts species at risk, but an

extension of the wall “will further disturb precious natural ecosystems, [and] patterns of

wildlife.” An article written for the Southwestern Nationalist further supports this, with,

“construction of the wall will directly destroy rare and endangered plants,” written in the article

“Resolutions.” The article goes on to say that the border wall will threaten the biodiversity in the

area directly in the border wall’s path. Ocelots, jaguars, and jaguarondis are just a few of the rare

and endangered species at risk in the area.

Donald Trump’s proposed border wall is not only harmful to the environment, but to the

local people as well. The wall would divide the traditional homes of the Tohono O’odham

people, and further increase the tension in the borderlands. Copious amounts of private property

would need to be taken over by the government for the project, resulting in the plummet of

Trump’s popularity. Finally, the proposed wall would be built through many areas of ecological

importance, including the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. It puts already endangered and

rare species at risk, and would irreparably alter hunting and migratory patterns.

Works Cited
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Brandys, Roy R., et al. “United States-Mexico Border Wall: The Past, the Present and What May
Come.” Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Journal, vol. 53, no. 1, Spring 2018, pp. 131–
162. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=132139936&site=ehost-live.

Childs, James M. “Walls.” Dialog: A Journal of Theology, vol. 56, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 209–
211. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/dial.12327.

Dervin, Dan. “Children’s Lives as History’s Pawns.” Journal of Psychohistory, vol. 46, no. 4,
Spring 2019, pp. 310–322. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=135414832&site=ehost-live.

Harriss, Robert C. “Trump's Wall Threatens Wildlife Ecology in the United States-Mexico
Borderlands.” EBSCOhost, Jan. 2018,
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=3fd80106-
b5fd-4736-9744-d55492fd9b94@pdc-v-
sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#AN=127011206&db=a9h.

Lara-Valencia, F., and M. Wilder. “Jump It, Climb It, Dig It for the Environment: Meddling with
Trump's Border Wall.” Project Muse, Oct. 2018, https://muse-jhu-
edu.pallas2.tcl.sc.edu/article/708954.

Leary, John Patrick. “Decoding ‘Build the Wall’: What Liberal Critics Miss.” NACLA Report on
the Americas, vol. 49, no. 2, June 2017, pp. 146–148. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1080/10714839.2017.1331808.

Poston, Dudley L. Here's Why Trump's Border Wall Won't Work. Associated Press, 5 Jan. 2019,
https://www.apnews.com/56d7094f0b554925abbd3d81f8ca74c8.

“Resolutions.” Southwestern Naturalist, vol. 62, no. 3, Sept. 2017, pp. 245–248. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.1894/0038-4909-62.3.245.